SEE ITRob Schneider performs Sunday at 6 and 9 p.m. at Jr.'s Last Laugh, 1402 State St. At the time of publication, both shows were sold out. Call 461-0911 or visit www.jrslastlaugh.com.

Rob Schneider has spent more time appearing in movie theaters and on TV sets than comedy clubs.

That began to change in 2010, when he embarked on an international stand-up tour, his first extended outing in nearly 20 years. Schneider told the website Creative Loafing Charlotte (N.C.) that he drifted into TV and films -- including two "Grown Ups" outings with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock -- before he had time to perfect his stand-up.

He hit the road to get his mojo back.

"By the time I got a good half-hour (of stand-up), I had become famous and started doing TV and movies," Schneider told the site. "In the back of my mind, it was always something that I knew I had never accomplished.

"So, Chris Rock and Adam Sandler got in my head about it, and I started doing it. It's been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done."

Schneider grew up in San Francisco and starting writing jokes as a teenager and doing open mikes. After opening for such stars as Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld, he made his first network TV appearance in 1987 on David Letterman's late-night show.

Lorne Michaels invited Schneider to join "Saturday Night Live" after seeing him perform on HBO's "13th Annual Young Comedians Special" in 1990. He was a regular on SNL for four seasons, where one of his most popular characters was the guy who dreamed up nicknames for his office co-workers.

Since SNL, he's appeared in more than a dozen films, including several with Sandler ("The Waterboy," "Little Nicky").

He also starred in two "Deuce Bigalow" films.

He's well aware that critics bash his films.

"I understand it now," he told the Charlotte website. "What I've learned is, the critiques are more about themselves. 'I didn't get it. I'm angry that these other people are laughing at something I don't find funny.' And my humor isn't elitist. I'm for the average person. I try to do things that make me laugh, and the people who get into that are also just people who are looking at it from the same perspective."

Schneider may or may not revisit his famous characters, like Deuce Bigalow, on Sunday.

"When I first started getting back into it, I felt the necessity to give (audiences) what they want," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in early 2014. "Now I feel my act is strong enough that I don't have to cater to their perceptions of what they've seen me do in the past."

Schneider hasn't abandoned TV and movies. He's independently producing "Real Rob," an eight-episode TV show that he's cowriting and will star in. He will also voice the title role of Norm in Lionsgate's animated feature "Norm of the North," which is due out in 2015.

SEE IT

Rob Schneider performs Sunday at 6 and 9 p.m. at Jr.'s Last Laugh, 1402 State St. At the time of publication, both shows were sold out. Call 461-0911 or visit www.jrslastlaugh.com.